Hill Cumorah Pageant

Live theatrical productions dramatized sacred events at the Hill Cumorah for many years. Early shows included plays about Joseph Smith’s life, depictions of the angel Moroni, and musicals with themes from the Book of Mormon. Over time, these productions coalesced into the Hill Cumorah pageant.

Newlyweds Willard and Rebecca Bean accepted a mission call and moved to Palmyra, New York, in 1915. Their assignment was to live at the Smith Family Farm and improve relationships between their neighbors and the Church. Over the years, Willard became friends with Pliny Sexton and James Inglis, farmers who owned property that included the Hill Cumorah.

Because of their friendship with Willard Bean, Sexton and Inglis approved the use of their land for a large mission conference. In 1923, Mission President B.H. Roberts invited all 140 missionaries from the Northeastern States Mission to gather at the Hill Cumorah September 22, 1923 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Joseph Smith’s first trip to the hill. As they traveled across eleven states to attend the conference, the missionaries wore bright blue Cumorah banners and preached the gospel to all who would listen. After spending time at the hill, the missionaries acted out scenes of Joseph Smith’s life at the Smith Family’s farm.

This first conference became an annual tradition known as the “Palmyra Celebration.” Over the years, the celebration grew and developed. Local members joined missionaries from the United States and Canada and celebrated over several days. They hosted barbecues, played outdoor games, and often staged live shows and other entertainment. In 1926, a play written by Norma Fairbanks and directed by Willard Bean was staged at Echo Hill near the Sacred Grove. Four years later, John W. Stonely wrote “Footprints in the Sands of Time,” a play celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Church’s organization which was attended by over 200 people.

In 1928, the Church bought most of the Hill Cumorah from Pliny Sexton. In 1935, the Church built a Bureau of Information and dedicated a large monument, designed by Latter-day Saint sculptor Torleif Knaphus, which had been constructed on the hill’s northern summit. As part of the monument’s dedication, audiences enjoyed a show called “The Book of Mormon in Song, Picture, and Story.” It was such a success that the next year, a young missionary named Harold Hansen received an assignment to create a similar but expanded pageant.

Initially, Hansen was reluctant to take control of such an elaborate production. “I didn’t know anything about pageantry,” Hansen said, “Besides, I came on my mission to tract and to do the other things that missionaries do!” In the end, he accepted the assignment.

Hansen’s “Truth from the Earth” was a grand production dramatizing six episodes from the Book of Mormon each highlighting the book’s testimony of Jesus Christ and emphasizing the Book of Mormon’s purpose as a second witness to the Bible. Events from Church history was reenacted to show the fulfillment of prophecies in our day. Except for a brief pause during World War II, this pageant was performed annually between 1937 and 1987 with Hansen serving as director for 40 of those years.

For the 1988 season, the pageant was completely rewritten to increase the focus of the production on the Hill Cumorah and the Book of Mormon. Hundreds of volunteer performers took the place of missionaries, who were no longer involved in the production. Orson Scott Card, who had recently experienced success in writing fiction for young adults, wrote a new script aimed at young adults who had never read the Book of Mormon. Card shortened the production and reworked the narrative structure. With the exception of a few selected passages taken directly from the text of the Book of Mormon, Card wrote dialogue in more comfortable modern English. His words together with an updated musical score composed by Tabernacle Choir conductor Crawford Gates, new choreography, elaborate sets, and thousands of unique costumes made the production more accessible to a modern audience. This version of the pageant was performed for three decades before the annual event was discontinued.

In 2018, the Church announced that rather than producing large-scale pageants, resources would be refocused on worship and gospel learning in homes and local units around the world. With these guidelines in place, leaders announced plans to end the Hill Cumorah Pageant in 2020. The outbreak of the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, however, halted plans for the final season. After 82 years, 2019 saw the final performances of the Hill Cumorah Pageant.

The Hill Cumorah Pageant impacted thousands of audience members who attended the production over the decades. Even more, members of the cast and crew have often reflected on how their chance to serve made a positive difference in their lives. For many people, the pageant remains a beloved memory and a hallmark of their witness of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.